Hello everyone! Being Thursday, today will be all about this week’s news releases. As it turns out, this week had a lot to do with James Wan as three projects with his fingerprint announced release dates (or changes). These include Fast & Furious 7, Annabelle, and Insidious: Chapter 3. Also, I have a release date for Selfless. For casting, Ken Jeong joined Ride Along 2 while Tina Fey agreed to star and produce an untitled Disney project. To finish things off I have a small bit of IMAX news in relation to Star Wars: Episode VII.

Ken Jeong (The Hangover franchise) will join another budding comedy franchise. I never did see Ride Along, but since Ride Along 2 is happening, who is to say a Ride Along 3 won’t happen? I don’t doubt it’ll happen. I’m ahead of myself at this point, but yes, Ken Jeong will be in Tim Story’s sequel that should release on January 15, 2016. (Source: Comingsoon)

In other casting news, Tina Fey has agreed to both produce and star in an upcoming Disney project. Unfortunately, this one isn’t the rumored Hocus Pocus sequel everyone wants (well, almost everyone wants). As of now, there is no title, co-stars, release date, or much plot (although we do know it’ll be about witches). Keep your eyes peeled for more. (Source: Comingsoon)

Release Dates

Fast & Furious 7 made a slight adjustment to its release date schedule. Instead of releasing on April 10th, it’ll now come out April 3, 2015. I don’t quite understand the move, but hey, the sooner the better right? Usually when a franchise reaches five or more movies, the quality tends to wane. However, with the Fast and the Furious franchise this hasn’t necessarily been the case. Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the late Paul Walker all return to this one that is directed by James Wan (The Conjuring). (Source: EW)

Speaking of The Conjuring, its spin-off, titled Annabelle, received a release date as well. New Line will release the horror film on October 3rd against David Fincher’s Gone Girl (good luck). James Wan will produce the movie this time with John R. Leonetti (The Butterfly Effect 2) directing it. Annabelle stars Annabelle Wallis (X-Men: First Class) and Eric Ladin (AMC’s The Killing). (Source: Variety)

Continuing with James Wan, the follow-up to his two Insidious projects (titled Insidious: Chapter 3) will come out on May 29, 2015. Leigh Whannell’s directorial debut will star Dermot Mulroney (The Grey) and Stefanie Scott (No Strings Attached). (Source: Collider)

Tarsem Singh’s (Mirror Mirror) sci-fi drama thriller, Selfless, was pushed back again to April 17, 2015. This one will star Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley. This Transcendence-like film sounds like it has some potential, so we’ll see next year! (Source: Collider)

Misc.

Finishing off today will be our obligatory Star Wars: Episode VII tidbit. It isn’t a bombshell, but it was confirmed this week that Episode VII will be shot in IMAX. This was confirmed by a photo sent out by Bad Robot’s (J.J. Abrams’ production company) twitter feed. Before the photo, we knew the film would play on IMAX screens but hearing they’ll use the actual cameras (there are only a few of them in the world) is a good sign in my opinion. Abrams’ long-awaited sequel hits IMAX and conventional theaters on December 18, 2015 (for now). It brings back Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher while adding John Boyega (Attack the Block) and Adam Driver (HBO’s Girls). (Source: IndieWire)

Jordan, who currently resides in Seattle, WA, has slowly become a film fanatic over the past couple of years. He attributes his love for film to the smash hit THE DARK KNIGHT which has created an (un)healthy obsession with both Christopher Nolan and the Batman franchise. Although he appreciates all genres of film, his favorite movies are typically psychological thrillers, with an emphasis on non-traditional narratives.